Isis Crawford Books In Order

Publication Order of Mystery With Recipes Books

Publication Order of Robin Light Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Isis Crawford is one of the popular mystery writers in USA known for many novels and book series. The most popular of her creations is Mystery with Recipes which contains eleven individual novels describing different incidents. Isis was born in Egypt and lived there with her parents until she was five years. Her family later moved back to United States where her mother established a catering business in Upper Westchester and the father became a university professor. Due to the family’s love for traveling and involvement in catering, Isis developed a passion for food and cooking. Most of her novels are based on catering event and holidays which end up in peculiar incidences. She focuses her stories around eating events, murders and investigations of the killings.

Books and series

Isis Crawford began her writing career back in the early 90s and has since published over 20 separate books. Some of her earlier novels include Chutes and Adders which was her first, published in 1994. It was followed by Twister in 1995, In Plain Sight in 1996 and The Scent of Murder in1997. Other single story novels Crawford has released include Vanishing Act, Bowing Smoke, Rubbed Out, No Good Deed and Salt City Blues among others. While her single story books have performed relatively well in the market, her major breakthrough was in the series category. She has one series (Mysteries with Recipes) to her name. The first book in the series was produced in 2003 and followed by ten more over the decade. It contains eleven individual novels with different same theme but different story lines. Isis is known for her ability to evoke deep mysteries out of eating event sand her imagination is unparalleled. The stories are quite interesting and carefully plotted to enable character development. It features various writing skills including suspense and premonition.

Characters and plot

In the single story independent books, Isis uses elementary protagonist characters playing the same role to the end. With the series, her characters were developed with each book and performed transformed roles. The first book in Mystery with Recipes was A Catered Murderer. It features Bernadette Simmons and Libby Simmons who are daughters of an ex police chief. Bernie (Bernadette) has moved to Ney York from LA where she was stating with her cheating boyfriend. In New York, she rejoins with her sister Libby who runs a successful catering business. Libby offers her a job and she is quickly integrated into the business. However it does not last long before they face their first mystery and it is a big one. During a high school reunion, an iconic New York bestseller in the vampire writing category Laid Wrenn is one of the attendees. The sisters immediately realize they will have an event like no other and that is exactly what turns out. After an after-dinner speech Laid takes a long sip of cold water from his glass and drops down dead immediately. It is now upon the two sisters contracted to offer catering services to answer questions and lead in the murder investigation. Bernie and Libby are exceptionally different personalities. One is always neat and tidy to the professional level while other is filled with crumb and ingredients. They work together in the investigation seeking to unravel the mysteries and perpetrator of this devastating killing.

The next book in the series is A Catered Wedding which features different storyline with the same theme. Leeza Sharp is a new bride enjoying her memorable day as she is in the heights of her dream wedding day. The joy is however cut short when she is later found dead, killed by a crossbow. Once again, the Simmons sisters find themselves at the forefront of investigations as they seek to help identify circumstances leading to Leeza’s death.

In A Catered Christmas, the Simmons sisters have received the opportunity to participate in a televised cooking competition event. They are mixed with other participants and random ingredients are provided for the cooking. Each group has a different uniform and only one team will win the coveted price. The event is generally of a happy mood and fun until one participant dressed in Santa clothing is killed by exploding oven. He is a member of the Hortsense group and focus shifts from cooking to death investigation. It is later discovered that the explosion was no accident and various parties were involved. Investigation further reveals that Hortsense had a run in with other participants including blackmail threats, illicit affairs and speculated rumors.

The other books in this series include Catered Thanksgiving, Catered July Fourth, Catered St. Patrick’s Day, Catered Valentine’s Day and Catered Mother’s Day among others. Isis Crawford novels are based on event settings and murders that arise out of an unexpected situation. The mysteries are solved through investigations which also work to build characters.

Film, TV and other productions

Isis Crawford is undoubtedly one of the best mystery writers in USA. Most of her books have received remarkable acceptance and reviews by many readers. However, they are yet to be made into a TV film or movie production. Nonetheless, mystery lovers and her fans alike look forward to a movie or TV film based on one of the books. The series is most likely to receive a film translation especially since it has several episodes and story lines to follow.

Accolades and awards

As a renowned author, Crawford has received many nominations to awards and is recognized as one of the most loved mystery lovers. She was nominated for the Edgar Awards in 2008 and has also been nominated for MOBO awards. She was named the most improved mystery writer in 2013 and has various other recognitions. Her books are easy to read and understand, featuring simple language and high quality formatting. The plots and characters are progressively developed and readers get the chance to know more of the character’s personal traits as they continue reading.

Conclusion

Isis Crawford is not a new name in mystery writing and she has been publishing interesting stories for over two decades. Mystery with Recipes is her breakthrough creations and she has a large fan base all across the planet. Readers will be waiting to see the next piece of work that she publishes and only the highest quality and imagination can be expected. The Egypt-born American writer is indeed one of the powerhouse names in mystery-food stories.

2 Responses to “Isis Crawford”

1. JoAnn Joram: 9 months ago

   Is “Catered Quilting Bee” start of new series?

   Reply
   • Graeme: 9 months ago

     No it is part of the Mystery with Recipes series as listed above

     Reply